This is the tour through Colombia by bus to help search for missing people

Beatriz Patiño’s face has a before and after. Her life is no longer the same since that day in January 2018 when her son Juan Carlos Churio Patiño disappeared in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, but she keeps the hope of finding him alive with the help of the ‘Ruta BUScadora’. The young man, who
At that time he was 32 years old, he went out to look for work in a laundry with two friends and they never returned. Since then, his mother has lived with the pain of not knowing anything about him.

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He has looked for him everywhere and the only thing he has been able to know is that “some men took them away in a truck.” Forced disappearances in Colombia occur like this: on any given day, people leave home and never return, as happened to Yoni Edilberto Rodríguez Cruz, who disappeared in the El Tarra municipality on December 1, 2013, and to Sergio Abril Torres, last seen in 2010 in the sector. from El Escobal, on one of the trails between Colombia and Venezuela, while working as a motorcycle taxi driver

These stories were heard once again in Cúcuta, capital of the department of Norte de Santander, where this week arrived the ‘Ruta BUScadora’ bus, of the Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing (UBPD).

The bus began its journey on September 1 in Villavicencio (center) and ended in this border city with Venezuela after traveling 2,400 kilometers and passing through 70 municipalities and hamlets far from the UBPD headquarters.

According to data from the UBPD, In Colombia there are 124,734 missing people in the context of the armed conflict, events that occurred before December 1, 2016, when the peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla came into force.

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a national drama

As they passed through seven departments of the country, the ‘Ruta Buscadora’ officials directly assisted 1,100 people who are looking for their loved ones; They received 276 search requests, dialogues were established with 27 information providers and 313 DNA samples were taken for genetic comparison.

“In the department of Norte de Santander we have more than 4,000 people in our search universe; more than 1,200 specific requests and in the history of the Unit around 240 bodies have been recovered. Many of these have been handed over with dignity, but the work identification sometimes ends up being the most complex”the general director of the UBPD, Luz Janeth Forero, tells EFE.

According to Forero, the UBPD, created in 2017 and with a mandate of 20 years, has since recovered
In the country more than 2,000 bodies and nearly 400 have been identified and handed over with dignity to their families.

“We have also made a powerful effort in the last year to find people alive; that has led us to find nearly 90 people alive“says the director.

However, grief persists for families like that of Yadira Rodríguez Cruz, president of the Association of Searching Women, who is searching for her brother Yoni Edilberto.

“The search was started by my mother María Gisela Cruz, but sadly she did not have enough life to continue it since she died in March of this year, like many other mothers, like many other fathers who are leaving without knowing where their missing relative is.or,” Yadira tells EFE.

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The 32 women who make up the Association fight not only to find their loved ones but
so that other people understand that the search is a collective responsibility.

“The search must be a commitment and obligation for all entities and institutions of the Government and the State; It is a global social responsibility“says Yadira.

The ‘reverse search’ The UBPD, together with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and Legal Medicine, has also implemented the strategy called ‘reverse search’, which consists of finding the families after the recovery and identification of bodies in cemeteries and places of forensic interest protected by precautionary measures.

“This initiative was launched approximately four months ago and extends nationwide. We have identified several people who could have died or disappeared during the armed conflict and whose remains have never been recovered by their families,” says Forero. To date, this strategy has made it possible to locate more than 30 people and the necessary procedures have been initiated.”
so that their bodies return to their homes“says the director of the UBPD.

EFE